The Animal Shelf

The Animal Shelf

Company type	Television series
Industry	Animation, Children's entertainment
Founded	25 June 1997
Defunct	3 August 2000
Headquarters	United Kingdom
Products	Animated television series, storybooks, VHS tapes

The Animal Shelf is a British animated series for children, produced by Cosgrove Hall Films and adapted from the books authored by British writer Ivy Wallace. The narrative centers on talking toy animals residing in Timothy's bedroom, designed specifically for a pre-school audience. The program was broadcast on ITV from 25 June 1997 until 3 August 2000, encompassing 4 seasons with a total of 52 episodes.

Characters

• Timothy (voiced by Susan Sheridan in the UK and Marc Donato in the US) is the young owner of the shelf animals, depicted solely as a shadow on screen.
• Gumpa the Bear (voiced by Jimmy Hibbert in the UK and Chris Marren in the US) serves as the leader of the shelf animals and is their eldest member.
• Little Mutt (Susan Sheridan in the UK, Jill Frappier in the US) is a small white dog or bear adorned with a pink bow, closely allied with Gumpa.
• Woeful the Monkey (Jimmy Hibbert UK, David Berni US) sports a red fez and coat, frequently acting impulsively.
• Stripey the Zebra (Jimmy Hibbert UK, Jen Gould US) is characterized by his wisdom and thoughtfulness; he is best friends with Getup and speaks with a West Country accent in the UK version.
• Getup the Giraffe (Susan Sheridan UK, Linda Ballantyne US) is Stripey’s black-eyed companion known for often stumbling; originally portrayed as male in the books.
• Mr. Trigg (Jimmy Hibbert UK) is a pet shop proprietor who appears only from the neck down.
• Parrot (Jimmy Hibbert UK) is Mr. Trigg's pet known for mimicking others.
• Mrs Mole and her Baby Moles dwell underground and communicate through squeaking sounds.
• Kinker the Mouse uses body language to communicate due to a kinked tail caused by a trap but is understood by the shelf animals.
• Jick the Jackdaw, who lives near Timothy’s garden, was renamed Carl the Crow in the US version.
• Squirrel is regarded as the shelf animals’ second closest friend, residing nearby in Bluebell Wood.
• The Caterpillar inhabits Timothy's garden close to where the moles’ trapdoor is located.
• Roger is Timothy’s unseen school friend who is occasionally referenced.

Episode guide

Each episode of The Animal Shelf has a duration of 10 minutes.

Series 1 (1997)

1. Stripey to the Rescue – After Getup is abducted by a travelling funfair, Stripey comes to her aid and meets Kinker, the squeaky Mouse. Meanwhile, Timothy falls ill and Doctor attempts to treat him. Stripey narrowly avoids being taken to a jumble sale by Mr Tompkins.
2. Gumpa and the Paintbox – Gumpa pretends to be sick by painting red spots on himself, feigning measles.
3. Getup Crusoe – Following the loss of her brown spots in Splashing Stream, Getup retreats to Bluebell Wood to live alone due to teasing.
4. Kinker visits The Animal Shelf – Stripey and Getup rescue Kinker from Mr Trigg's pet shop; Kinker then visits the five toy animals at their home.
5. The Treasure Hunt – Getup and Stripey discover buried treasure in Timothy's garden; Gumpa finds only onions.
6. Music in the Woods – Timothy requests feathers for his School's Nature Table; however, Mr Trigg's parrot encourages them to create music using toy instruments instead.
7. Woeful and the Waspberries – Woeful searches Bluebell Wood for raspberries as a gift for Timothy’s birthday.
8. Gumpa solves a jigsaw puzzle – Gumpa and friends attempt to complete an outdoor jigsaw puzzle; Woeful accidentally scatters its pieces.
9. The Trail – Despite Squirrel moving one clue mistaking it for an acorn arrow, the animals follow hints around Timothy's garden.
10. The Model Monster – Inspired by Timothy’s model ship, they build models from scraps; both Gumpa’s aeroplane and Woeful’s robot suit collapse.

Series 2 (1998)

1. Babysitting for Mrs Mole – While Mrs Mole visits her ill sister, the toy animals look after her babies during Timothy’s extended school day.
2. Timothy's Pet Balloon – After winning a large balloon rabbit at Roger's party, the animals spend a night inside a hutch ordered by Mr Tompkins.
3. The Alarm Clock – Timothy has trouble waking up for school; his mother buys an alarm clock that ends up waking all five animals at night.
4. The Wolf in the Wood – Building houses in Timothy’s garden, they deal with Woeful pretending to be the big bad wolf.
5. Woeful Flies to the Moon – Using an old litter bin, Woeful takes Getup and friends on an imaginary moon walk through Bluebell Wood.
6. Captain Gumpa – As eldest among them, Gumpa assumes command as Ship’s Captain of the group.
7. The Hottest Day Of The Year – On a scorching summer day, Timothy suggests ways for animals to stay cool while he visits a swimming pool with his mother.
8. The Mystery Of The Pictures – Borrowing Timothy’s Polaroid camera, they are puzzled by photos taken inside their bedroom.
9. Timothy's Guest – The group feels uneasy when Timothy’s cousin brings along his dog for a weekend visit.
10. Little Mut Finds an Egg – While Timothy plays golf, Little Mut and friends search for eggs near Bluebell Wood.
11. Kinker's Camping Holiday – Kinker's camping trip goes wrong when his tent blows across Splashing Stream after being set up by Stripey and Getup.
12. Timothy's Homework – The blue Shelf team assists Timothy in catching up on his school assignments.

Series 3 (1999)

1. Waiting For Santa Claus – On Christmas Eve, the five toy animals bustle around Timothy’s house eagerly awaiting Santa’s arrival.
2. A Very Special Day – Following Santa’s visit, celebrations ensue but Woeful feels downhearted.
3. Little Mut's Long Rest – With Autumn approaching, strong winds blow; Mrs Mole rescues her baby moles from danger.
4. Woeful and the Tooth Fairy – As Timothy awaits a visit from the tooth fairy, they learn about dental hygiene together.
5. The Art Gallery – Inspired by one of Timothy’s paintings, they create their own artwork.
6. Woeful's Magic Wand – Woeful’s magical experiments cause chaos coinciding with discovery of an unusual object in Timothy’s room.
7. Buckets and Spades – Preparing for holidays, Timothy’s family worries about leaving animals alone; meanwhile Gumpa devises plans while Stripey and Getup visit Mr Trigg's pet shop.
8. The Jam Factory – As school begins again, they decide to make jam leaving Getup and Stripey surrounded by fruit.

Series 4 (2000)

1. Animal Watch – Under Timothy’s guidance, Woeful and friends learn about desert creatures such as camels.
2. Gumpa's Ark – Gumpa creates a plan to protect all animals from flooding including clumsy Getup.
3. The Garden Sale – Introduction of a new animal brings lessons about money management to their group.
4. Looking for Big Mut – Motivated by Timothy’s family tree book, Little Mut searches for his ancestor named Big Mut.
5. A Night In A Tent – Inspired by Timothy’s camping trip, animals spend one night outside; Getup and Stripey narrowly escape danger while baby moles prepare surprises for Little Mut.
6. The King of the Castle – After reading about knights and castles from Timothy’s book, they embark on a medieval-themed adventure.
7. Timothy's Racing Car – Arrival of a remote-controlled car prompts them to leave their shelf chasing after it.
8. The Shooting Star – Sharing a star map with them reveals secrets about constellations according to Timothy.
9. Gumpa's Head – As Timothy begins fitness training routines, Gumpa learns how to relax more.

International broadcast

The show was distributed worldwide including broadcasts on ABC in Australia; KTV2 in Kuwait; RTÉ2 within Ireland’s The Den segment; Dubai 33 across UAE; K-T.V. World and M-Net throughout South Africa; Premiere 12’s Kidz Blitz, Eureka Learning Channel, and Kids Central in Singapore; PBS and Television Malta; TVB Pearl in Hong Kong; SVT channels throughout Sweden; Wikkid Plus in Pakistan; as well as TVNZ 2 and TVNZ 6’s Kidzone block in New Zealand. It also aired on RTL7 within Poland.

It's Itsy Bitsy Time

In North America, The Animal Shelf was featured on the children’s programming block It's Itsy Bitsy Time, which included international series. This aired on Fox Family Channel in the United States and Treehouse TV in Canada starting in 1999. For this version, original British voice tracks were replaced with American and Canadian voice actors under direction of Canadian voice actress Susan Roman, renowned for voicing Sailor Jupiter in Sailor Moon. Roman also directed voice recordings for another British animated series included within It's Itsy Bitsy Time.

Merchandise

The franchise extended its reach through companion storybooks published by Ladybird Books, alongside a collection of five VHS tapes distributed by Disney Videos from 1997 to 2001.